Like Friends Do

Chapter 4

On the way back to Todoroki's room, Midoriya insisted they stop and grab blankets and pillows from his own room. So Todoroki was left to balance two bowls of cold soba and the small stack of cookies, while Midoriya carried two hefty blankets and a few pillows through the dormitory. If they looked strange, nobody bothered to tell them so.

The moment they stepped back into Todoroki's dorm room, Midoriya threw the blankets and pillows to the ground with a huff. He then carefully took one of the bowls of soba from Todoroki. "Thanks for carrying that for me!" he said with that bright smile that lately made it hard for Todoroki to think straight.

"O-of course," he replied softly, sitting across from Midoriya on the bed to eat.

While they ate, Midoriya used his free hand to rifle through some of the movies Todoroki had selected. "Are any of these up to your Rotten Tomato score standards?" he asked in a joking tone.

"Does it matter?" Todoroki replied dully.

"Well, it would be nice if you enjoyed the movies we watched during our sleepover."

"But all I really care about is you."

That statement did something weird to Midoriya. Todoroki noted how the blush on his cheeks spread all the way to his ears, and he thought to himself that if Midoriya had a Quirk similar to Todoroki's, his ears would probably be steaming by now. He wondered if Midoriya got that tight-chest feeling too, and if he was feeling it right now – though he didn't quite know why his statement would do such a thing to his friend. He'd simply been telling the truth.

"That's so sweet!" Midoriya said finally, a wide smile crossing his face that reached up to his eyes. Todoroki blushed then and looked away, picking at his bedding as a method of distraction.

"It's the truth," he replied bluntly.

"It's still sweet," Midoriya huffed.

The rest of their meal they tried to settle on a movie that they both could enjoy. Finally, after finding to his dismay that not even one of the films warranted a score above an eighty percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Todoroki let Midoriya pick. His judging of whether or not to watch something was alarming; Midoriya simply chose the movie with the most interesting title and cover art. "Is that really a good way to choose a film?" Todoroki asked.

"Well, first impressions are everything," Midoriya shrugged. "If it wows me in the cover art, it's usually at least a little satisfying to watch."

The atmosphere between them settled into the same cozy warmth that Todoroki always felt around Midoriya. Even when they went jogging in the rain earlier that week, that tight feeling in his chest was overridden by a warmth he didn't know he'd ever felt before. He thought, maybe, that's what happiness felt like; but no, that time Iida invited Todoroki to study with him he'd been happy, and it hadn't felt like this. Or all the study sessions he'd had with Yaoyorozu where the end result was most often her gloating about how she and Jirou made a wonderful couple.

A pang of realization struck. He nearly darted out of the room, back down to the commons to see if he could get an answer from Yaoyorozu. He suddenly needed to know, was that that feeling that had been following him around every time Midoriya was nearby? Was it the happiness of finding someone more than just a friend?

He must have been steaming, judging by the way Midoriya gently touched his right hand, that way he usually did when Todoroki got overwhelmed. "You okay?" he asked in a voice as compassionate as his hand on Todoroki's.

"Hm?" Todoroki's brain was in the process of freezing over and burning itself all at once. Midoriya prodded at his cheek.

"Hey, earth to Shouto," he murmured.